Fleeting Moment
by Zuko
Summary: Zuko notices a desolate girl in his Uncle's tea shop and gets a chance to talk to her.


Hey guys,

Sorry for my long, long absence. I hope you like this one-shot. It's not much, but I like it and I hope you do too. I'm pretty sure that by the description, you all will know who the girl is.

**Fleeting Moment**

---xxx---

She sighed heavily as she walked from the counter to an isolated spot in the corner by a window of the tea shop. Sitting down, she gazed blankly at her tea cup. Her eyes were cast down, as if they were heavy with sadness. Finally, her nimble fingers moved around the beige tea cup and she quietly took a sip as she brought it to her lips. Her thick bangs covered majority of her pallid face, making it hard to read her face. As she set the cup down, her lips curled into a deep frown.

I had been watching her for only a few moments until my view got distorted when people walked in the way. Hurriedly, I clumsily poured hot water into various cups when Uncle walked by. When I looked up again, I was disappointed to see that a new group of girls were gallingly chatting away as they stood by the girl. I turned around for only a quick moment to grab random tea bags to put in the tea cups. Usually, when I am not too busy, or if I cared enough, I would actually read the orders that people gave and accommodate them. But I was in...a rush this time.

She was in full view again when I turned around once more. Still in her gloomy state, she continued to idly watch her tea as it grew colder.

I carelessly placed the cups in a tray and headed out into the crowd to give them to people. I was like the busboy in my Uncle's very popular tea shop, so I was always occupied with serving tea. It wasn't something I enjoyed doing, but it killed time pretty quick. But I decided to stick with it after she came in the shop one day. I thought that serving tea would be a good way to chat with her. She was so different from the rest of the crowd. Her long black hair always concealed her face and she never talked much. I would watch her quietly from behind the counter as she ordered a raspberry flavored tea and sit in the corner of the place. She'd sit there for about half an hour then sulk away. I've been noticing this from the past week as I watched her.

It's funny though. I would always walk by her with a tray of tea in hand and I never said a word to her, not even a simple hello. I wanted to, but I just can't seem to bring myself to do it. I don't even know her name or age. She looks about my age, but I can't be certain. All the stress she holds on her face makes her look older. Despite that, I am just not the kind of guy to strike up a conversation with, especially with eerie girls like her.

My back was turned to her as I lay tea cups in front of an elderly couple. I was so close to her. I wondered if she noticed my presence. Probably not. But that's OK. Today didn't seem like it was the day to talk to her anyway. Maybe tomorrow, or the day after that...

I walked back to the kitchen and began washing dishes before Uncle could scold at me for not doing so. I'd rather save the time and just do them now.

An hour had past by when I was done sweeping the kitchen floor. I headed out to see what else Uncle wanted for me to do. He handed me an old rag so I could wipe the tables clean. I sighed inwardly as I reluctantly trudged to the nearest table. I stopped when I spotted her still sitting in the back corner, gazing at her cold, abandoned tea.

I found it strange to see her still here since she usually leaves earlier than this. The sun was about to set and I thought she would have gone home by now.

I leaned down a little and wiped the table with long strides. I stole a few quick glances her way to see if I could tell what was going on in her mind. The sun's setting rays cast a slight shadow against her pale skin. That's when I saw a obscure, black tear cascade down her cheek. Her lips were sit in a tight line as it lingered at the edge of jaw, then splash quietly against the tabletop. The wet trail glistened as the light touched her face.

I stood up and quietly walked to another table to "clean", then another in an attempt to get closer. I still kept my distance though as I carefully watched her. No more telltale tears flowed from her eyes, but then again, I couldn't really tell from the hair that guarded her eyes.

A muffled sniffle met my ear when I was at the table across from her. I stood behind the table as I faced her way, pretending to focus on the table I was wiping. I stared hard at the table and kept dabbing at nonexistent stains with the abused cloth I held in my hand. I tried to prolong the time I stayed there for as long as I could. As I was doing so, I pondered on whether or not to slide into the chair across from her and ask her what was wrong. My hearted wanted to do it, but my body refused to give in.

Instead, anticipation took over. What if I say something that I shouldn't? What if I do something to make her never want to come back here? What if, what if - that's all I could think about.

I was about to turn away and let it be when I heard another sniffle.

Would I really just walk away? Yes, perhaps it would be better for her to think about whatever is bothering her and figure it out by herself. That's what....no, no. I couldn't.

What makes girls feel better? I thought to myself. Money? Flowers? Chocolates? A thought occurred to me and I quickly headed towards the kitchen. I grabbed a plate from the cupboard and placed a delicate piece of cake on it. I chose a raspberry filling cake with a chocolate drizzled on top. I thought she might like it since she always drank raspberry tea.

Uncle didn't see me since he was somewhere in the storage room. He would have gotten mad at me if I was randomly giving away free things. Regardless, I walked towards her again slowly, clutching the plate steadily. It was still not clear to me as to why I was doing this...

I was glad to see that she was still there. I slowly approached her and said, "Hi."

She didn't seem to take note of me until I set the plate in front of her. She stared at the glistening cake for a moment before turning to look at me with the saddest eyes.

"I thought it would make you feel better," I added, trying to ease the eerie silence.

"Oh," she muttered. "Thanks..."

"Do you want some company?" I was already settling myself across from her without waiting to hear her answer.

She watched me take a seat then, looked back at the cake. It was like she had no idea what to do with it.

She said nothing, or at least not yet. She grabbed a napkin and dabbed her eyes. When she brought the napkin down to her side, I saw blotches of black everywhere. It must be the eyeliner I guess...I still couldn't see her eyes properly, but I could see the sadness that dwelled in them. She looked at me as I looked at her.

I wanted to ask her what was wrong, but the words "I hope you like it" came out my mouth instead. She nodded slowly as she took a fork and cut a small piece of it. Then, as if unwillingly, she brought it to her mouth and slowly ate it. I could see the unwillingness in her face as she swallowed the small piece.

"It's good," she said to me, but never took another bite.

I knew she was telling me this more out of obligation, but I understood. It must be hard for her to deal with whatever made her so sad. I was afraid to ask what happened though because I didn't want her to talk about it if she wasn't willing to.

It was like she was reading my mind and answered my unspoken question.

"It's my birthday today," she began, "And no one remembered."

"I'm sorry," I said immediately. "Happy Birthday."

I wasn't sure if this was something to say, but I said it anyway.

"Thanks," she mumbled, then sighed. After a moment of silence, she said, "I know it's nothing to be crying about, it's just that..."

_Just that?_

"It's just that I thought that my best friends would at least remember, you know?" She dabbed her eyes again with the soiled napkin. "And then they treat me like crap."

"How so?" I asked, though maybe I shouldn't have. Is that something to say?

She let out a quick forced laugh. "My parents don't even know I exist." She took a moment then began again. "And my 'best friend', Azula, supposedly forgot. She said some hurtful things to me and I feel like this empty shadow behind her. She's just so...so----"

"Selfish? Greedy? Arrogant?" I finished for her.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I know the type..." She didn't need to know that Azula and I were related...

"I feel so...invisible," she said quietly.

Invisible? No, no. I had the urge to tell her that she was not invisible and that I noticed her come in here everyday at the same time. I wanted to tell her that I watched her from behind the counter everyday, thinking of things to say to her, but just never had the courage to do so.

"You're not invisible," I told her, trying to make her feel better about herself.

She sighed. "Yeah...right."

She looked outside the window and saw that dark had already fallen and the sun's slightest light was gone. She turned to me and said, "I'm sorry for all this. I should've have dumped all this on you...Well, I should go now."

Before I could bade her a decent farewell, she hurried away. I watched her leave with a certain urgency. I looked around the shop to see that the place was almost desolate. I grabbed the cake from the edge of the plate and brought it closer to me. With another fork, I cut a piece and took a bite of it. The sweet raspberry flavor dominated my mouth as I savored the taste. It's a shame that she didn't like it. Perhaps I should have gotten her a chocolate one?

"Zuko!" Uncle exclaimed from across the room as he saw me eat the last bit of cake. "What are you doing? Get to work!"

"Yes, Uncle," I said to him as I immediately got up and stacked the teacup on top of the empty plate. I headed towards the kitchen, only to be greeted by piles of dishes to be washed.

Just my day...

---xxx---

I had thought about her yesterday as I lay in bed. I couldn't really sleep because I was kind of restless and not too tired. I found it strange how we never exchanged names. I didn't even ask how old she turned. Maybe I should've, yeah?

Perhaps. But it's too late now. I had thought of asking her today, and seeing how she felt, but she never came today. It could be that she had somewhere else to go? Or maybe it's just that she was too busy to come over? I don't know what the reason was, but she never came back the next day, or the day after that, or the day after that.

I think I lost count after the first four weeks of her absence.

Only then did it occur to be that she might not ever come back.

---xxx---

How was it? I hoped you liked it. I haven't posted anything on here for so long, I felt really guilty...

Sorry about that. But I have more time on my hands now :) So I am planning on writing more.

I wrote this because well, today is my birthday and it wasn't a very happy one T_T I felt really sad and things didn't go to well for me. It was so disheartening. Well, anyway, hope you all have a nice weekend :)

Please review thanks. Thank you so much for reading. Oh, and I have a poll question that I would like for you to answer if you have time. It's on my profile. Take a look at it when you get the chance. Thanks.

-Zuko


End file.
